2008 JAPAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Champs Fall, Rookies Rise in Japan!

Next year's Nationals are coming to Kanagawa! Masaya Kitayama, a 22-year old student and former finalist in the High School Championships, took the title of National Champion with his black-green discard deck. His opponent was also a 22-year old Kanagawan student. Ren Ishikawa was playing MoriKatsu Storm, a variant on the Aussie Storm deck, designed by last year's winner Katsuhiro Mori. Ren had dispatched a pair of Solar Flare decks to reach the finals but he could not deal with the increasingly popular GoyfRack deck.

Joining them in New York City as members of the National team were Takahashi Akiyama, a beautician from Chiba playing Solar Flare, and Makato Nagashima, a 'salaryman' from Yamanashi playing Project X. While this team is not well known they proved their mettle by defeating a trio of players with impressive Pro Tour resumes that included two different Pro Tour finalists and one winner.

Congratulations to Masaya Kitayama, the 2007 Japanese National Champion!

Top 8 Player profiles

Yuuta Takahashi

Please tell us about yourself.
I'm a 21-year-old university student in Tokyo.

What have been some of your significant Magic achievements before now?
I've played in most Pro Tours since LA 2006. I got lucky at San Diego and managed to get second place.

How did you qualify for Nationals this weekend?
Pro Players' Club.

What were your results this weekend? What colors did you play in the draft?
I went 5-1-1 in Standard and 5-2 in the draft. In the first draft, I went 4-0 with a white-blue deck that had good tempo and card advantage. I used a black-green deck in the second draft that wasn't so good.

What deck did you play in the Standard portion of the tournament?
A blue-black Pickles deck I designed myself. It's the same deck I've been playing since GP Kyoto.

How did you prepare for Nationals?
I playtested with friends and people at Ikebukuro Ogre.

Any special memories from this year's Nationals?
I had three different games where I managed to pull out a win at 1 life.

Shuu Komuro

Please tell us about yourself.
I'm a 25-year-old Pro Player living in Tokyo.

What have been some of your significant Magic achievements before now?
PT Nagoya Champion, GP Yokohama Champion.

How did you qualify for Nationals this weekend?
Pro Players' Club.

What were your results this weekend? What colors did you play in the draft?
I went 3-0, 4-0, 2-1, 1-0-3.

What deck did you play in the Standard portion of the tournament?
I'm playing a white-blue-green "Blink" deck, based on what took 6th place at South African Nationals.

How did you prepare for Nationals?
I drafted online four times and played Standard for an hour or so. Kurihara and his friends helped me build the deck, and Kentarou Nonaka gave me the sideboard.

Any special memories from this year's Nationals?
In one game, I played a Torchling, tapping out to do so. My opponent played Psionic Blast to kill it, but luckily I had a Simian Spirit Guide in my hand I was able to burn to deflect the Blast, and I went on to win the game.

Kazuya Mitamura

Please tell us about yourself.
I'm 27, and a student living in Chiba.

What have been some of your significant Magic achievements before now?
I have two PT Top 8s.

How did you qualify for Nationals this weekend?
Pro Players' Club.

What were your results this weekend? What colors did you play in the draft?
I went 2-1, 3-1 (white-black deck), 2-1 (white-black), and 3-0-1.

What deck did you play in the Standard portion of the tournament?
A Solar Flare deck of my own.

How did you prepare for Nationals?
I practiced with my friends in Chiba at the shop G-Remix.

Any special memories from this year's Nationals?
I'm sure I'll always remember how Komuro dominated the tournamernt.

Masaya Kitayama

Please tell us about yourself.
I'm from Kanagawa, and I'm 22.

What have been some of your significant Magic achievements before now?
Winning the High School Championship.

How did you qualify for Nationals this weekend?
Pro Players' Club.

What were your results this weekend? What colors did you play in the draft?
3-0, 4-0 (white-black, splash of red), 2-1 (black-red), 1-2-1.

What deck did you play in the Standard portion of the tournament?
GB GoyfRack

How did you prepare for Nationals?
By playing MagicOnline and with Asahara and his group.

Any special memories from this year's Nationals?
Komuro's run.

Makoto Nagashima

Please tell us about yourself.
I'm a "salaryman" from Yamanashi. I'm 22.

What have been some of your significant Magic achievements before now?
I played in PT Venice and PT Yokohama.

How did you qualify for Nationals this weekend?
DCI rating.

What were your results this weekend? What colors did you play in the draft?
I went 5-1-1 in Standard and 5-2 in Limited.

What deck did you play in the Standard portion of the tournament?
I'm playing a Project X deck given my by Yoon Su Han.

How did you prepare for Nationals?
I played drafts online, and I worked on strategy over the phone with Yoon.

Any special memories from this year's Nationals?
"Bob" (Dark Confidant) failed me. (I drew too many lands and lost.)

Takashi Akiyama

Please tell us about yourself.
I'm 21, and I live in Chiba, where I work as a beautician.

What have been some of your significant Magic achievements before now?
GP Yokohama Top 8.

How did you qualify for Nationals this weekend?
Chiba Regionals.

What were your results this weekend? What colors did you play in the draft?
I went 4-0 in the first draft, 2-1 in the second. I used to a black-red deck both times, with Smallpox.

What deck did you play in the Standard portion of the tournament?
A Solar Flare deck of my own.

How did you prepare for Nationals?
Playing with friends at G-remix.

Any special memories from this year's Nationals?
I was so lucky in Limited.

Ren Ishikawa

Please tell us about yourself.
I'm a 22-year-old- student from Kanagawa.

What have been some of your significant Magic achievements before now?
GP Yokohama Top 8, GP Kyoto Top 8, Finalist at the Lord of Magic tournament in Chiba.

How did you qualify for Nationals this weekend?
Pro Players' Club.

What were your results this weekend? What colors did you play in the draft?
I went 2-1 and 4-0 on Day One, and 2-1 and 2-0-2 on Day Two.

What deck did you play in the Standard portion of the tournament?
A Storm deck by Katsuhiro Mori.

How did you prepare for Nationals?
Playing with friends.

Any special memories from this year's Nationals?
Komuro ID'ed with me to get me in.

Naoki Nakada

Please tell us about yourself.
I'm a 17-year-old student, living in Nagoya.

What have been some of your significant Magic achievements before now?
Winning Toukai Regionals.

How did you qualify for Nationals this weekend?
See above.

What were your results this weekend? What colors did you play in the draft?
I went 2-2 in Draft 1 with a red-green deck, and 3-0 in the second with a blue-red deck. In Standard, I went 3-0 and 2-0-2.

What deck did you play in the Standard portion of the tournament?
A GoyfRack I made myself.

How did you prepare for Nationals?
I played at local shops.

Any special memories from this year's Nationals?
It was my first time to play this deck, and it worked really well for me.

Sunday, Sept 2: 10:43 a.m. - Archetype Breakdown and Decks of Note

by Staff

Working with Keitia Mori doing the Japanese coverage by my side has made covering Japanese events possible over the years. He had his crack staff of reporters assemble an English language breakdown of the decks played in this tournament along with some of the notable players who played them.